Type: Beer – Rice Lager
Name: Kirin Ichiban
Price: $3.29
Made: California?
Alc/Vol: 5%
“With his gold label and Special Premium Reserve appellation, Ichiban outclasses and outperforms.
In 1990, Ichiban’s debut made a splash in the world of super premium beers. The luxurious single wort (or first press) process yields a unique, complex flavor. With his gold label and “Special Premium Reserve” appellation, Ichiban outclasses and outperforms. But don’t be fooled by a snooty attitude — this is a great beer that goes with anything.
What makes Ichiban great
Prominent wort. Finest barley malt, premium hops, smooth finish, no bitter aftertaste.”
I happened to have flung together a nice dinner of sashimi (tuna and salmon) along with a few rice balls for a nice Japanese style dinner, and had this beer in my fridge. My first assumption was that it would be a perfect pairing. It didn’t necessarily fall short of my expectations but it didn’t exceed them either. It is a good beer but it seems like Anheuser-Busch was holding this mystical kirin back from greatness, like a pit bull on a leash it just wasn’t what it was all cracked up to be.
The beer has a nice malty taste with a spicy finish, the malty flavor threw me off because I was expecting a rice beer flavor more like Saparro. Yet here with Kirin Ichiban there was a malt flavor, so I can’t tell what is different since this one hails less from the east where the sun rises and more towards the west coast of California. The spicy finish had a sweet lemon like twist to it that came off nice and full of flavor. So with all this malty spicy goodness why am I complaining, well it tasted as if it was slightly watered down or diluted which is definitely not how I like describing my beers. Especially after you just read the ego stroking description with words like ‘special’, ‘premium’ and ‘luxurious’.
I give this mystical beer a 2.5 out of 5 banana rating. I had higher expectations, especially since I drank this with a Japanese dish. What’s your take on this beer – does it tickle your taste buds or fall short of expectations. Who knows maybe Japanese lagers just aren’t my favorite, but I’ll do some closer examining when I visit Japan this December.
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February 16th, 2011 at 3:33 am
Suntory is my fave brand in Japan, better than Kirin and they have better TV commercials too
http://www.japansugoi.com/wordpress/suntory-beer-commercial-with-mikie-hara-and-yukie-kawamura/
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:27 pm
I wish I could remember if I had the opportunity of trying Suntory while in Japan. The can looks familiar although, to be honest the two models on the post from the commercials got more of my attention than the beer. @(^_^)@